By Bryce Dole
The women’s 100-meter final at last year’s world championships in London was truly something to behold. Two-time Olympic gold medalist Elaine Thompson of Jamaica fell out of medal contention, Dafne Schippers of the Netherlands took bronze out of lane nine and Marie-Josee Ta Lou of Ivory Coast led from the gun until American Tori Bowie surged over the last meters, leaning her way to her first individual gold medal to win by .01 seconds.
If you missed this drama, a rematch is set to go at Saturday’s Prefontaine Classic.
All four women will compete, providing an insight into what is to come on this summer’s Diamond League journey.
“It’s great to have competitors — I’m a competitor myself,” said Thompson at Friday’s pre-meet press conference. “It’s great to get out there and run with them, but I don’t put the pressure on myself before I race.”
Bowie said her training has been consistent. “I feel like I’m off to a slower start this year,” she said. “But I’ll continue to stay confident and patient, and I’m looking forward to having a great race tomorrow.”
Ta Lou comes in as the favorite after running a personal best of 10.85 at the Doha Diamond League earlier this month. The time would have tied her with Bowie for the world title last summer.
“Those ladies have had great performances,” Bowie said. “But it’s expected. They’ve already raced each other at Doha. This is my first Diamond League race this season so I’m looking forward to it — it should be something special. I’ll have to step it a lot for tomorrow.”
